Woodcutter Werebear (Saw Bears Book 2) by T. S. Joyce Read Free Book Online

what he didn’t know wouldn’t get her punished.
    Brooke opened her mouth, as if she were about to ask what kind of animal hid inside of Skyler, but then clamped her mouth shut. Instead, she asked, “Do your people have alphas?”
    “No, we have councils for each side of the war. They keep the peace between the people on each side and make wartime decisions. Then come the warriors. Then come the men who do nothing for our kind. Then the children, and below everyone come the females. The breeders. I’m no princess like Tagan said. I’m nothing at all.”
    “Bullshit. Your people sound like assholes.”
    “You said Kellen was my mate.” Skyler gripped the cool glass in her hands and dropped her gaze in shame. “It felt nice to let you think that, but it’s not true. He’s not mine. I belong to Roger.”
    “You belong to yourself. No man owns you, Skyler. Take it from me, who spent a hell of a lot of time as a human. This,” she said, pushing Skyler’s hair away from her bruises, “is abuse.”
    “Not to my people. The men call it ‘breaking a willful mate.’” She snorted at how dumb that seemed now. She’d been raised to accept it, but here, away from it all, it just sounded like more manipulation. “I probably seem pathetic to you.”
    Brooke knelt in front of her and looked her square in the eye. “No. Any man who did this to your face is pathetic. Was this the only time he was rough?”
    Ashamed, Skyler shook her head. “It was the worst, though. Please don’t tell Kellen. His bear already seems hard to manage.”
    Brooke frowned at the door. “He isn’t, usually. You affect him. Usually Kellen is the level-headed one of the crew. Come on. I want to show you something.”
    Brooke pulled her upward until she was steady on her feet, then tugged her by the hand until they reached a second bedroom Skyler hadn’t had the time to explore yet. In it was an easel with a large, messy painting of a man’s face. A pile of similar pictures, built up with black and gray acrylics, sat in the corner. Brooke spread them out until they lined the floor.
    Skyler didn’t know much about art, but she could almost feel the pain coming off the pages. In one picture, the man was smiling, but his grin was soulless and didn’t reach his hard, cold eyes. In another, the corners of his lips were turned down as he stared out with disdain. He looked terrifying.
    “You said I probably thought you were pathetic,” Brooke said, as soft as a breath. “This man hurt me. He broke me.”
    Skyler jerked her head up and stared at Brooke. “How?” She seemed so strong and sure of herself. How could anyone have hurt her?
    “He attacked me in a stairwell in the city where I used to live. He hit me, bruised up my face like yours is now. Then he marked me here.” She ran a fingertip down a long, healed pink gash across her neck. “He wanted me to always remember how helpless I’d been. And for a while, every time I looked in the mirror, I did feel helpless. But I wasn’t, and neither are you.”
    “When Kellen took me, I was scared,” she admitted low. “But deep down, I was glad someone was trying to save me. I’ve hated that I couldn’t save myself.”
    Brooke’s light brown eyebrows winged up. “This is where the winds of change turn to a fucking hurricane if you let them, Skyler. You don’t belong with a man who would hurt you. And if that is how your people operate, by breaking women, sounds to me like you need to find yourself new people.”
    “They’ll banish me if I leave Roger.”
    “Banishment is bad?”
    “The worst. I’ll be disgraced all my remaining life, which won’t be long, because my enemies will kill me the second they find out I’m no longer protected by my council.”
    Brooke canted her head and gave her a significant look. “Not if you learn to fight back, and not if you find someone strong enough to protect you.”
    Skyler shook her head in ready denial. “I couldn’t ask Kellen to do